It's shorty's what now?
And now, I hedge. In spite of the encouraging "Yay, immolation!" response in comments (sickos), I worry that last post makes me look classist.
And I'm not. Or I'm not at present. I'll admit I might've been at one point in my life, while I was in high school and living in an affluent American suburb yet part of a family slipping down, down, down the socioeconomic ladder following a divorce. Or maybe I was just sixteen and a snot. Either way, who didn't go through a phase like that?
Now I'm wise enough to now that rich, poor, or middle class, from all races, ethnicities, religions, nations, educational institutions and walks of life, ignorant assholes are everywhere.
When it comes to money, I don't begrudge people who have lots of it, or more than I do. I recognize that I'm capable of making choices in life that will bring me more or less money. I just don't want to go into sales. So I assume those with money either earned it (and I can certainly respect that), or somebody else did, or they're just lucky. However it happened, bully for them. Money has to go somewhere, and that's where some ended up. (Or if it was illegally sourced, maybe someday they'll get caught and we can all evaluate how clever or not they were.)
Yet I can't shake the instinctive thought that if you have a whole lot of money, vast, Scrooge McDuck-esque piles everywhere you turn, you should find something good to do with it. And I mean good in a broad sense. Not just good for yourself or your family or for mankind -- all would work -- but also well-used. Rather than inefficiently bandied about it a way that makes you look hermetically sealed off from rational society. And if you can't do that, maybe somebody else should have that money. Completely unworkable, I know, but it's just a thought.
Let me explain with an example.
If you spend $10 million on your daughter's bat mitzvah, my instinct tells me: Sure, it's your right, but if that's all you can think to do with it maybe you shouldn't have that money. Maybe it should go to somebody who would use it as the seed for a space program instead.
And I'm not. Or I'm not at present. I'll admit I might've been at one point in my life, while I was in high school and living in an affluent American suburb yet part of a family slipping down, down, down the socioeconomic ladder following a divorce. Or maybe I was just sixteen and a snot. Either way, who didn't go through a phase like that?
Now I'm wise enough to now that rich, poor, or middle class, from all races, ethnicities, religions, nations, educational institutions and walks of life, ignorant assholes are everywhere.
When it comes to money, I don't begrudge people who have lots of it, or more than I do. I recognize that I'm capable of making choices in life that will bring me more or less money. I just don't want to go into sales. So I assume those with money either earned it (and I can certainly respect that), or somebody else did, or they're just lucky. However it happened, bully for them. Money has to go somewhere, and that's where some ended up. (Or if it was illegally sourced, maybe someday they'll get caught and we can all evaluate how clever or not they were.)
Yet I can't shake the instinctive thought that if you have a whole lot of money, vast, Scrooge McDuck-esque piles everywhere you turn, you should find something good to do with it. And I mean good in a broad sense. Not just good for yourself or your family or for mankind -- all would work -- but also well-used. Rather than inefficiently bandied about it a way that makes you look hermetically sealed off from rational society. And if you can't do that, maybe somebody else should have that money. Completely unworkable, I know, but it's just a thought.
Let me explain with an example.
If you spend $10 million on your daughter's bat mitzvah, my instinct tells me: Sure, it's your right, but if that's all you can think to do with it maybe you shouldn't have that money. Maybe it should go to somebody who would use it as the seed for a space program instead.
posted by blerg3000 at 2:41 PM
4 Comments:
Sickos? Um, weren't you the one to suggest that the show needed immolation in the first place? :)
I agree on the whole money thing. Having grown up poor, I have thought about what I would do with a very large sum of money if I were ever to win Powerball or something. I know I would want to donate some of it, but to what? Part of me would just want to write a check to United Way and trust that they would send it where it was needed, but the other part of me thinks about random acts of kindness that would have a greater impact on someone's life. Imagine buying a house, paying the taxes in advance for a few years, and then going to a homeless shelter and giving it to a family. Of course choosing which family is a whole different issue, but you get the point.
And then there is the part of me that wants to build a huge hulking stone house that could withstand a siege by catapult.
Huh. Here I'd have thought Moth would want to buy the catapult in order to lay siege on others....
I'm sure a siege catapult is next on his list.
I know what you mean. I'd certainly want to take care of myself and my family first (e.g. stone fortress ...for the cat), but what to do with the rest of my imaginary fortune? One thing I'd probably want to do is build some kind of foundation that supports creative music.
No, I am peace-loving individual. I wouldn't lay seige to anyone!
Now, as a defensive item for my giant stone fortress......
Happy New Year!
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